8% of LGBTIQ+ individuals in Malta expressed that they had been victims of physical or sexual attacks due to their sexual orientation, a European report has found. Only Sweden (7%) observed a lower rate.
10% of Maltese respondents considered violence against LGBTIQ+ people to have increased a little or a lot - an EU low. At the opposite end of this spectrum, 81% of LGBTIQ+ people in Slovakia felt that violence against them had increased significantly or somewhat in their country.
57% of Maltese noted that prejudice and intolerance decreased in the country. This was the second-lowest rate amongst EU countries, only behind Estonia (62%).
This report, entitled "LGBTIQ+ Equality at a Crossroads: Progress and Challenges" was published by the European Agency for Fundamental Human Rights and surveyed the attitudes and challenges that some 100,000 LGBTIQ+ individuals across Malta and the EU Member States face in their daily lives.
The report has found that of the LGBTIQ+ people living in Malta, 62% do not hide their sexual orientation - a percentage that is 11% greater than the European average.
Malta also recorded the second-lowest rate of LGBTIQ+ individuals that "often" or "always" conceal their sexual orientation in the workplace at 28% - tied with the Netherlands and only bested Denmark (24%).
61% of LGBTIQ+ individuals in Malta stated that the Maltese government is effectively combatting prejudices and intolerance against them; for Maltese, this percentage stood at 83% in 2019, just five years ago, meaning that Malta also observed the greatest decrease in levels of trust in this respect.
This strongly contrasts the EU average of just 26% of respondents that feel this sentiment for their respective national governments.
20% of Maltese respondents noted to have reported or filed a complaint about the most recent discrimination incident that was experienced by them or someone else to an organisation/institution. This percentage was the highest across all EU countries. Italian respondents followed the Maltese with 16%, while the unlikeliest people to report about their last experienced discrimination incident came from Poland (5%).
The Parliamentary Secretary for Equality and Reforms, Rebecca Buttigieg, said that this report confirms the significant steps that the Maltese have taken to overcome the prejudices that have existed against the LGBTIQ+ community. Buttigieg noted great satisfaction in the fact that the Maltese LGBTIQ+ community faces less violence, harassment, intolerance, and prejudices than the recorded European average rates for these indicators.
"There is more to be done," Parliamentary Secretary Buttigieg said, "the government is committed to fostering a mentality and culture in favour of equality and inclusiveness so that every individual, regardless of their sexual orientation, is treated with respect and dignity."